A study commissioned by the state and done by the Pew Center on the States and the Council of State Governments made some progressive recommendations on the Indiana criminal justice and prison systems. Just a few weeks ago, Governor Mitch Daniels signaled his support for the prospective changes and now everyone waits for lawmakers to make some of the recommendations as reality.
The study was commissioned to identify what was wrong with Indiana incarceration practices and what could be done to both save the state money and reduce criminal recidivism in the future.
The Indiana prison population has grown 40% in the past decade. This is a sign of similar growth across the country, largely a result of the War on Drugs declared in the 1990s. Such policies and sentencing legislation passed back then has served to lock up thousands of nonviolent offenders, costing billions.
The recommendations as outlined in the study would save the state about $1.2 billion in new prison construction and operating costs in coming years. Although the specifics aren’t known, the suggestions include major changes to drug and theft sentencing laws, reserving prison time for dangerous offenders instead.
Changes to community supervision standards would need to be implemented as well, bolstering the probation departments and improving drug and alcohol treatment options within the community.
Support for these recommendations looks promising now, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisles voicing their intentions to pass money-saving and community protecting legislation.
Instead of merely cutting prison populations the plan shows promise as it makes good effort to strengthen sentencing alternatives. Cooperative efforts from all branches of the criminal justice system would be necessary but this sort of cooperation is exactly what’s been missing.
Lengthy prison sentences for non violent drug offenders just don’t make sense. They don’t keep the community any safer and they certainly don’t “reform” the person they lock up. Instead, they place an enormous burden on the broken families they create and the taxpayers who must support the offenders.
Many Indiana criminal sentences are often way out of line with the actual offenses. Serving more time for distribution than for a violent offense is irrational and here’s hoping reform changes some of this.